Surface panel and mounting means therefor

ABSTRACT

A surface panel is secured to a frame by means of flaps or tabs to form a structural unit without face-exposed fasteners in its field area. If desired surface-exposed fasteners may even be eliminated from the peripheral area of the panel. In a further improved version a complete vapor barrier which also acts as a field securing means is provided.

Unite States atet n91 Bohzin et al.

[451 July 30, 1974 1 SURFACE PANEL AND MOUNTING MEANS THEREFOR [75] Inventors: James E. Bobzin, Clearwater; David P. Kasprzak, Largo, both of Fla.

[73] Assignee: The Celotex Corporation, Tampa,

Fla.

[22] Filed: Sept. 20, 1972 [21] Appl. No: 290,521

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 84,044, Oct. 26, 1970,

abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl 52/483, 52/511, 52/512 [51] lnt. Cl E04b 2/72 [58] Field of Search 52/290, 483, 357, 359,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,350,349 8/1920 Walter 52/512 1,444,709 2/1923 Sea 1,726,040 Olson 52/406 2,066,066 12/1936 Kellogg 52/489 X 2,107,240 2/1938 Eilertscn 52/483 2,117,763 5/1938 Ellis 52/515 X 2,264,976 12/1941 Heritage 52/462 X 2,276,076 3/1942 2,782,914 2/1957 2,955,063 10/ l 960 3,159,882 12/1964 3,165,791 1/1965 3,307,306 3/1967 3,466,827 9/1969 Clcm 62/516 X Primary ExaminerHenry C. Sutherland Assistant Examiner-Leslie A. Braun Attorney, Agent, or FirmJames W. Grace [57] ABSTRACT A surface panel is secured to a frame by means of flaps or tabs to form a structural unit without faceexposed fasteners in its field area. If desired surfaceexposed fasteners may even be eliminated from the peripheral area of the panel. In a further improved version a complete vapor barrier which also acts as a field securing means is provided.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIEmwm I 3.826.055

HHV

} INVENTORS.

I .h FIG 5 JAMES E. BOBZIN I! E DAVID P. KASPRZAK l M w W w ATTORNEY.

SURFACE PANEL AND MOUNTING MEANS THEREFOR This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 84,044, filed Oct. 26, 1970 now gone abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention:

This invention pertains to the field of building construction and its broadest application is in the field of mobile home or modular building construction.

The present direction of building construction is rapidly tencling toward factory built units, and particularly, mobile homes and modular units for erection on a preselected site. The economy in cost of construction and the speed with which units can be constructed using pre-cut components which can be accurately spaced with respect to one another make factory assembly more and more attractive.

In addition, because prospective purchasers prefer finished mobile homes and modular units to have the appearance of conventional construction with which they are familiar, it becomes desirable to present a monolithic interior surface with'few exposed fasteners. Labor of concealing exposed fasteners is a factor to be considered also.

2. Description of the Prior Art In current mobile home and modular building construction, large panels, such as gypsum wall board panels are nailed to framing members which are on either 16 or 24-inch centers. The nails are driven through the face of the board along the edges and throughout the field of the board to affix the board to the framing members. Following this step the heads of the fastening members must be covered with a topping or joint compound before painting. The additional labor of covering the nailheads in the field of the board adds an unnecessary cost to the construction.

An attempt has been made to overcome the field nailing problem by using an adhesive. However, because the problem of holding the panel against the framing members while the adhesive sets has proven to be a deterrent, the simple use of adhesive has been not generally adopted.

Furthermore, it has been a common practice to provide a vapor-impenetrable barrier inside wall panels and ceiling panels to protect the interior wall and ceiling areas from deterioration because of moisture condensation. Frequently, the vapor-impenetrable barrier is a separate sheet of plastic material which requires a separate operation to install. If the sheet without flaps is made an integral part of the back of the panel, the penetration of nails or other fasteners can puncture the vapor-impenetrable barrier and may reduce its effectiveness. In the case of the invention, the puncture of the flaps does not actually cause disruption of the vapor-impenetrability of the sheet since they are folded together and form a seal at their bases.

So that the panel can be affixed to a pre-set frame, the panel has flaps on its rear surface. The flaps extend generally across the width of the board and are pivotally arranged to extend outwardly from the surface. The flaps are so spaced that they correspond with the positions of the framing members and are affixed to corresponding framing members by nails, staples or other mechanical fasteners.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention concerns a surface panel and a structural unit made with the panel. The surface panel is affixed to a base frame by fasteners connecting flaps made integral with the rear surface of the panel and spaced relative to corresponding framing members. A vapor-impenetrable sheet may form a part of the invention, if desired.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel panel which can be secured to framing members to form a structural unit with no or a minimum of exposed surface fasteners.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel panel for a structural unit which panel also forms a vapor-impenetrable barrier to prevent moisture from entering behind a wall or ceiling.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a novel structural unit utilizing the panel of the invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the attached drawing in which like numerals indicate like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the surface panels and the structural unit of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the structural unit of the invention taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structural unit of the invention taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4-7 are plan views of the rear surface area of a section of the panels of the invention showing alternative variations of the flaps.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a plurality of elongated framing members 10, which may be conventional 2 X 4 wooden studs nailed to base and top plates (not shown) in the standard manner of wall construction. They may also be roof/ceiling joists or trusses, typical of ceiling construction. Framing members 10 are of uniform thickness, nominally 2 inches, and of nominally 4 inch width. If desired, framing members can be 2 X 2 inches or 2 X 3 inches or any convenient thickness and width. Framing members may be spaced from each other in parallel rows at any convenient distance. However, conventional construction usually places the framing members on 16 or 24 inch spacing between center lines.

Panels 11 are affixed to the framing members 10 to form a structural unit 13. As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, flaps 12 are formed by folding portions of a sheet 14 which extends over the rear surface of panel 11. If desired, sheet 14 may be a vapor-impenetrable sheet of relatively flexible material so that flaps 12 can be easily folded outwardly from the rear surface of panel 11 without breaking its vapor-impenetrability. Sheet 14 may be glued over the rear surface of panel 11.

In the following discussion of the panel 11 and the spacing of the flaps 12 the conventional spacing of 16 inches on center for framing members will be assumed and the flaps 12 will be described in relationship to such spacing.

The upward distance of the folded portion of sheet 14 can be adjusted to permit easy nailing or stapling to one side of a framing member 10. Staples 16 are shown .for this purpose.

The spacing of the flaps 12 relative to the edge of the panel and to each other is to some extent determined by the spacing and thickness of framing members 10.

As can be easily seen at the extreme right and lefthand portions of FIG. 2, the edges 17 of adjacent panels 11 abut along the centerline of framing members 10. To accomplish this the flap 12 nearest to and parallelwith the edges 17 must be along a line displaced a distance of one-half the thickness of framing member 10.

Assuming a constant repetitive spacing of the framing members 10, the various alternative positions for the flaps in the central field area of the rear surface can be described. Obviously, the flaps must lie along at least one of the sides of each of the framing members in order to be affixed thereto. However, the side is not of critical importance. Thus, the flap 12 may be affixed to the right-hand side of the framing member (as viewed in FIG. 2) or the left-hand side of the framing member (as viewed in FIG. 2). If desired, a pair of flaps 12 spaced only by the thickness of the framing members may be used.

With respect to the spacing between flaps, adjacent flaps may be spaced the same distance as that between facing sides 30 and 31 of adjacent framing members or can be spaced by the distance between oneface 32 of a framing member and the remote face 30 of the next adjacent framing member. If desired, the-adjacent flaps I in the interior field of the panel could alternatively be spaced by the distance between remote sides 31 and 34 of adjacent framing members. If desired a double flap arrangement could be used wherein flaps are secured to the two side faces of one framing member (not shown). The spacing is determined by convenience with the objective being such that each flap is affixed to one side of a corresponding framing member.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate panels 11 with vapor impenetrable sheets 14 having flaps 12 spaced for use with conventional framing spaced at 16 inches and 24 inches on center. As is well known, fiberboard panels are generally made in sizes having widths of 4 feet with conventional lengths, and therefore FIG. 4 illustrates such a fiberboard panel with flaps 12 arranged to be affixed to framing members on 16 inch centers. It should be realized that this surface panel can be made of materials other than fiberboard, such as, gypsum, hardboard, plywood or pressed paper, without departing said framing members.

spacing of the rows of flaps 15 will be selected in accordance with the previous discussion. FIG. 6 shows the arrangement of separate strips of flaps 15.

Another variation which can be selected is illustrated in FIG. 7 in which the flaps are made up of a series of subsections 18, in longitudinal alignment.

In those situations where it may be desirable to use an adhesive 21 as the means to affix the panel 11 to framing members 10, flaps 12 may be stapled to the framing members to hold the panels against the face of the framing members 10 until the adhesive sets. As shown in FIG. 2 an adhesive 21 may be spread on the face of the framing member 10. Under these circumstances the number of staples 16 may be drastically reduced.

In summary, the present invention is directed to a novel panel and fastening means therefor to affix the panel to framing members to form a structural unit. The flaps are in rows spaced relative to each other in a manner determined by the thickness and spacing of the framing members. A vapor-impenetrable sheet may be used if a vapor barrier is desired.

We claim: 7

1. A structural unit for providing the interiorly exposed wall of a room comprising:

elongated framing members of pre-selected thickness, said members being fixed in coplanar, parallel spaced alignment with a pre-selected distance between sides of adjacent framing members;

at least one panel having a rear surface and an exposed front surface;

said exposed front surface providing a portion of an interiorly exposed wall of a room;

said panel being affixed to at least three of said members;

said rear surface having a sheet adhered to and contacting the entire area of said rear surface of said panel;

said sheet having a plurality of integral, flexible flaps folded outwardly therefrom to form a seal at their bases;

said flaps being arranged in parallel rows and each one of said flaps lying against a side of one of said framing members; and

means connecting each of said flaps to its respective side of said framing members for affixing said panel to said framing member.

2. A structural unit as recited in claim 1 in which said sheet is a unitary, vapor-proof sheet.

3. A structural unit as recited in claim 1 in which said connecting means comprise mechanical fasteners and a set adhesive coating lies between each of said framing members and said sheet to further secure said panel to 

1. A structural unit for providing the interiorly exposed wall of a room comprising: elongated framing members of pre-selected thickness, said members being fixed in coplanar, parallel spaced alignment with a pre-selected distance between sides of adjacent framing members; at lEast one panel having a rear surface and an exposed front surface; said exposed front surface providing a portion of an interiorly exposed wall of a room; said panel being affixed to at least three of said members; said rear surface having a sheet adhered to and contacting the entire area of said rear surface of said panel; said sheet having a plurality of integral, flexible flaps folded outwardly therefrom to form a seal at their bases; said flaps being arranged in parallel rows and each one of said flaps lying against a side of one of said framing members; and means connecting each of said flaps to its respective side of said framing members for affixing said panel to said framing member.
 2. A structural unit as recited in claim 1 in which said sheet is a unitary, vapor-proof sheet.
 3. A structural unit as recited in claim 1 in which said connecting means comprise mechanical fasteners and a set adhesive coating lies between each of said framing members and said sheet to further secure said panel to said framing members. 